Genes clue in breast cancer fight

Hopes have risen for new ways of tackling breast cancer after scientists identified changes in genes

Hopes have risen for new ways of tackling breast cancer after scientists found that changes in genes may be leading to a significant proportion of cases.

Researchers in the United States found two distinct types of genetic rearrangements which may trigger 5-7% of all breast cancers.

These types of genetic re-combinations have previously been linked to blood cancers and rare soft-tissue tumours, but are beginning to be discovered in common solid tumours, including some cases of prostate and lung cancer.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Centre looked at the genetic sequencing of 89 breast cancer cell lines and tumours, and found recurrent patterns in the MAST kinase and Notch family genes.

Professor Arul Chinnaiyan said: "What's exciting is that these gene fusions and rearrangements can give us targets for potential therapies. This is a great example of why treating cancer is so challenging. There are so many different ways genes get recombined and so many molecular subtypes, that there's not one solution that will work for all of them.

"The research provides additional evidence that these types of genetic rearrangements seem to be a significant cause of solid tumours."

He said that the discoveries illuminate a promising path for future research, with opportunities to develop treatments for individuals whose tumours carry specific genetic combinations - a process commonly known as "personalised medicine".

The study demonstrated that the genetic rearrangements had profound effects on breast cancer cells in the lab, both in tissue culture and in mouse models.

Prof Chinnaiyan said: "We cloned each of these rearrangements and introduced them into normal breast cell lines, where they appeared to have cancer-causing effects."

The findings were published online in Nature Medicine ahead of print publication.